Welcome back to the 152nd episode of Financial Advisor Success Podcast!
My guest on today’s podcast is Beverly Flaxington. Bev is the founder of The Collaborative, which provides sales training and organizational development support to financial services firms.
What’s unique about Bev, though, is the human behavioral coaching approach that she takes to trying to teach sales and business development skills. Recognizing that in the end with financial advisors, as with our own clients, it’s not just about knowing what to do, but figuring out how to change your behavior to actually do it.
In this episode, we talk in depth about Bev’s approach to sales training and how to conduct a meeting with a prospective new client. Why it’s so important to set upfront for the prospect an expected outcome for the meeting, the importance of figuring out whether someone is a qualified prospect by determining if they’re suited for your firm services, willing to pay and really ready to make a decision, how to get permission to ask deeper questions to the prospect to get to know them further, and why it’s ultimately a kindness to a prospect to ask for their business when that moment comes, instead of just waiting and praying for them to volunteer that they’re ready to sign up with you.
We also talk about the challenge of differentiating in today’s crowded advisor marketplace. The value of having a niche, at least for your outbound marketing efforts, why getting more specific about exactly who you serve makes it both easier to generate referrals from existing clients and reduces that awkwardness of talking about what you do in social settings, and the importance of defining clear triggers so those who might refer to you know exactly what situations to watch out for that might be a good opportunity to refer.
And be certain to listen to the end, where Bev talks about how advisors who find the sales process icky or uncomfortable can reframe it in their own minds to understand that in the end, settling is simply about letting people know what you do, how you can help them, that you genuinely want to work with them and do good work, and that your job is simply to help them make a decision they’re confident about, which hopefully will end out being to hire you to do the work.
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